Tuesday, July 23, 2013

An article in financial bigfish Forbes lists the top Minor League Teams in
terms of cash value. Included on the list is the Durham Bulls, who for
the past ten years have climbed into the top tier of teams with vaults
of annual cash created in large part due to a famous name.

But
also from having the best Biscuits players drive them to the postseason
more often than not, while Montgomery has been to the playoffs three
times in ten years.

Of the 160 teams in the survey group,
the Bulls were listed among the top 35 teams. This includes all of
affiliated baseball, such as Double and Triple-A, but not foreign teams.
Revenue and attendance were the stats used to rank the teams, including
expenses like stadium leases and payroll. Not listed was if there was
team or city debt incurred via bonds or other long term financial
obligations.

Scrooge McDuck could be a team owner

This
helps explain why our team has been a one way funnel of talent and the
organizations apparent views of Montgomery as a lesser stopover. In terms of finance, we
simply cant compete and will likely always be second class in the eyes
of teams in the top 35.

DIETRICH RETURNS!

See how excited he is?

Beginning Tuesday the Biscuits host the Jacksonville Suns for a five game set at Riverwalk. Monday night the Suns parent club, the Marlins, called up top prospects Jake Marisnick and Christian Yelich. Sent down in their place are Marcell Ozuna and former Biscuit Derek Dietrich.

Deet had the hit that propelled the Skitz into the playoffs last year, and has been a hot infielder for the Marlins until he cooled off over the past three or four weeks. The Marlins obviously have a good plan in place, using double-A Jacksonville to farm prospects without overexposing them to scouts at the higher level.

Im sure the irony of returning to Riverwalk wont be lost on Derek, who will be playing in the Southern league as an opponent of the Biscuits while looking to get hot again for a late summer promotion.

FRESH BISCUIT!

CATCHER CURTIS CASALI

Freshest Biscuit of the batch!

Welcome new Biscuit Curt Casali, catcher, up from Charlotte. Not announced at this writing yet, but already tweeted congrats by teammates and an AP article from his hometown confirms it as well.

Curt went to college at Vandy, David Price's school, and hit .267 with five homers this year for Port Charlotte. Casali could be added as soon as Tuesday morning, or lurk on the StoneCrabs roster while here catching bullpens and warming up pitchers between innings until a move is made.

It also makes one wonder who the player going out will be - is there is a trade lurking that will open a roster spot is the first question at this time in the season. If not, then we have to wait and see who is getting put on the DL or sent to Durham.

This is a big series for the Suns, who could lock themselves into great position should they sweep the Skitz. Should the Biscuits manage a sweep, Montgomery would then be one game above .500 in the second half. Jacksonville is the team we are chasing, so we need these games and this series if we expect to make any kind of push in the second half.

The Suns are loaded with talent, even after the departure of two of the best prospects in the Southern League.

SP Adam Conley

3B Zack Cox becomes the top hitter on the team with his .288 average.
Big first baseman Mark Canha leads the current roster in homers with eight, ahead of returning Ozuna who has five tallies.
SS Audy Ciraco is second on the team with 25 rbi.
Marisnick's departure means that Catcher JT Realmuto has the team lead in stolen bases with 8, on his way to an annual total of 13 - he has had 13 steals each of the last two seasons!

SP Conley leads the team in wins with 9 and has 93 strikeouts on the season.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR

The Suns are the top team in the division
after playoff-bound Mobile. They just lost their two best hitters in
Marisnick and Yelich. They won't be without help though, as they have
replaced the departed with big league quality. Look for the Suns to
change the batting order in an effort to smooth the tempo.
Look for the Biscuits to try to figure out how to pitch around the prospects in the Suns lineup in an effort to expose weak spots.
Look for Mahtook to return to the lineup or be put on the DL.
Look for Curt Casali to warm pitchers up in the bullpen and between innings to get familiar with the staff.